Our Paths Do Not Cross
by TissueCube
Summary: Fukaboshi visits his ex, Shyarly, to make sure her wound was okay. Post-Fishman Arc. Fukarly. Oneshot Fic.


**Our Paths Do Not Cross:: Fukaboshi visits his ex, Shyarly, to make sure her wound was okay. Post-Fishman Arc. Fukarly. Oneshot Fic.**

 **Fukaboshi - 24**

 **Shyarly – 29**

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 **Disclaimer:: I do not own One Piece or it's characters.**

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Well, _this_ was a surprise.

Shyarly smiled warmly as a large merman approached the back entrance of her mermaid café. She knew exactly who it was the moment the shadow of the figure approached. It was a particularly large shadow, so it was a giant merman of course. But only a very select few citizens could approach her back entrance, and most of them were average sized fishmen. So when she saw a large shadow, she knew immediately who it was.

Although most of her girls had greeted the man outside with laughter and sweet kindness, she was far too busy tying her bandages over her breasts to greet him at her door.

Her eyes flickered from the mirror she was in front of to the merman leaning against his innertube bubble. He was against the opening to her room, pushing away the curtains to get a view of the area. Only after a few seconds did he quickly close the curtains in front of his face and turn around to give the woman privacy, no doubt noticing she was fixing her bandages. His arms crossed over his chest to avoid making odd gestures. It was quite funny to see the man easily flustered.

"Prince Fukaboshi-sama~ Welcome to my Mermaid Café. I had no idea you were into such things…", Shyarly smiled teasingly as she turned around. The only person she would openly tease was always him. In truth, she missed that.

She missed a lot of things with him.

"Ah, forgive me Madam Shyarly. I did not know you were fixing your bandages.", he voiced out, his shadow behind the curtain lifted it's head slightly.

"Hmhmhm…", she chuckled warmly, "it is fine Fukaboshi-sama. I am quite finished…Come inside and please close the shell door." Her hand pointed towards the large pink shelldoor that was close to the wall as soon as he approached for the second time today. Shyarly usually kept to curtains instead of the shelldoors behind them, but when the shelldoor was closed, it was an unwritten note to everyone saying 'do not disturb'.

Without a word, Fukaboshi did what he was told, his shark teeth bared. His back was turned towards the female shark to close the large shell doors, so he was quite surprised to feel arms wrap around his abdomen area.

A blush made it's way to his face as he tried to look over at the woman.

"Madam Shyarly-"

"Oh come now Fukaboshi-sama…It's just us.", Shyarly smiled as she pressed the side of her head against his back before letting go. The feeling of her arms around his waist made the man suddenly want to pull her back into his arms.

Shyarly's lips stretched into a thin line as she avoided his gaze. The shark mermaid was almost his height, she just needed to be 6 feet taller to reach the top of his head. "It is good to see you again after what has happened recently…", her eyes lowered slightly in a half-lidded glance. Although she was still slightly afraid for the future, she knew to trust that boy known as 'Strawhat Luffy'.

Fukaboshi nodded in agreement as he faced her. He was worried for Shyarly when Hody had hit her with a water shot, but had to carry out his duties first and foremost to Fishman Island. It was a good thing he came when he had the freetime to see how she was now.

The dark haired woman slowly moved away from Fukaboshi's own bandaged self, floating towards her seat. With a small pop, she plopped down on her chair with a content smile. Her non-dominate hand rested on her lap as she decided to bring out her pipe with the other. Fukaboshi watched in content silence, his arms crossing over his chest as she tried to get her pipe going.

A small puff of smoke escaped her lips after a few seconds of waiting for him to talk first. However, that was not going to happen.

"What was it that brought you here, Fuka…", her eyes closed, quietly awaiting for an answer.

"…I wanted to make sure your wounds are okay. If you are resting well.", he did not hesitate. His demeanor was straight forward and to the point. However, his face felt hot as he felt her scrutinize him for the comment. It had been awhile since he actually decided to visit her. It's been so long since he actually had contact with the woman. In fact, maybe this was a mistake? No…No he came here as a friend. A friend to see if Shyarly was okay. Or better yet, he came as a concerned prince for his people. He had to protect the citizens afterall.

The woman's blue eyes decided to focus on the ground as a smile made its way to her face to hide her slight annoyance. It was already obvious what he was thinking. He has always been the 'duty holder' since they first met.

She didn't understand sometimes.

Then again, it was probably because she grew up in the Fishman District. Loyalty to the royal family and the care of other people you don't know had always made her slightly confused.

"Shy as always, I see…", she whispered softly, trying to avoid showing how irritated she actually was. Everything became quiet as she thought of memories of the two of them together. Even Fukaboshi almost smiled hesitantly at her reminiscing. Just as he was about to say something about her, the woman continued. "I remember the day we broke up. You were absolutely not hesitant when you took my hand and told me to follow our own paths. Isn't that…what you said?", her teasing gaze wanted to look at Fukaboshi, but her heart clenched slightly at the memory. She settled for staring at the floor.

Across from her, Fukaboshi tensed. Of all the memories to choose from! If he was an impatient or unkind man, he would have left with a huff. However, he knew that this woman was heartbroken from him leaving her.

He felt bad but…It wasn't his fault, he had duties to do...

And she was not the only one hurting.

Fukaboshi felt himself sigh, his eyes downcasted at the memories.

Feeling the awkward tension, Shyarly took another whiff of her pipe to soothe her nerves before speaking.

"My wounds are fine. I was shot in the shoulder, not shot in the heart.", the shark mermaid leaned against her chair. Fukaboshi closed his eyes and inhaled deeply again.

"Ah…I see… That's good to hear that you're fine. I am glad…", Fukaboshi opened his eyes and looked up at the woman. She was staring intensely at the floor. He must have made her felt weird… "I guess I will be leaving, Shyarly," he opened his eyes fully to look at the deep blue hues he had always loved. Being surprised at seeing her disheartened was definitely an understatement. His hand unconsciously clutched at the trident attached to his sash.

Shyarly didn't want to look up at him.

"…Ja…", he stated before quietly opening the door. Shyarly looked up, mouth slightly open to yell back to him.

 _Come back…_

"Have a good day, Prince Fukaboshi…", Shyarly whispered softly. The door clicked close behind him and the shark mermaid was left with her thoughts.


End file.
